Most people agree that video is a great marketing tool to create content for your web site, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. There’s plenty of research and statics available to demonstrate the effectiveness of online video – I have also written about it in previous posts. At the same time many businesses have not taken the leap into online video marketing because they are somewhat apprehensive about the whole process.

With this post I hope to eliminate some of the fears and worries about creating your first marketing video. Let’s get started with a few basic points.

Who’s your target audience? Are you trying to generate more leads? Do you need to introduce a new product? Perhaps you need to increase donations and want to bring more awareness to your organization? Answering these questions is a critical first step, therefore, understand what the video is for and whom you are creating it for.

Create the video with shareability in mind from the start. In other words, to make sure that the video gets seen by as many people as possible, ask yourself ahead of time why people would share the video on Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest for example?

Shorter is better. Keep the video between 60-120 seconds. Lengthy marketing videos simply do not get a lot of traction on the web or people simply don’t watch the entire video.

10 to 15 seconds: That’s how long you have to get the viewers attention. It is very helpful to create a compelling and interesting hook early in the video to make sure there is plenty of motivation to watch the video to the end.

Stay customer centric instead of brand centric: The most powerful stories are community and customer focused. The company or brand that you represent may play the role of the mentor in the video but the customer and/or community should be the central focus. If you are challenged to come up with ideas, perhaps you can turn a testimonial that you already have from an existing client into a video story. You may also have print marketing material that can assist in creating the content.

Write a script: Writing a basic script will crystallize your ideas and concepts. Often it is helpful to write a script and practice reading the script out loud or recording yourself. It’ll provide you with useful feedback about your own delivery.

Call-To-Action: Each video should have a call to action where you invite the viewer to take some sort of action. For example, ask them to call you for more information or complete an online form to request a quote. Sometimes a subtle request to share or like to video can also be helpful.

Equipment. Most consumer-type cameras will be sufficient in recording your own videos particularly if this is your first entry into video marketing. Make sure you have sufficient lighting and good audio. Basic editing software such as iMovie or MovieMaker would be a great starting point when editing your video.

Sven Kielhorn can be reached at the eTown Videos' offices, 413-324-1130. About Sven and eTown Videos: Sven Kielhorn founded eTown Videos in 2006. Sven has been working in motion graphic design and digital video for 15 years. As Creative and Marketing Director at eTown Videos, Sven works with businesses in developing strategies to incorporate web video technologies into their online marketing campaigns. Additionally, he works on all phases of video production, post-production, and video marketing.
Sven also serves on the marketing committee of the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce and produces the chamber's monthly member video spotlight.